Working Capital and Cash Flow Management Training Course

Duration 5 days 10 modules · 33 contact hours
Level Intermediate Certificate on completion
Who attends Finance Managers, Financial Analysts and others
Fee from USD 1,100 KSh 95,000 for Kenyan organisations
Where 52 cities + online See dates by city
Next start 9 Nov 2026 Course code SD-FM-059

Before you join: Participants should understand basic financial statements, including the balance sheet, income statement and cash flow statement.

Dates & prices

Two start dates a month in every city, and live online on weekdays or weekends. Fees are per participant; classroom fees include tuition, materials, lunch and refreshments, and the certificate.

Suggest a date or city

Showing the next six months. Later dates, other cities and private deliveries for your team are available on request.

Course overview

Profit does not pay payroll, suppliers or debt when customer receipts arrive late, inventory accumulates or payment commitments are poorly timed. Finance professionals need a clear view of the cash conversion cycle, short-term liquidity requirements and the operational decisions driving cash movement. This course addresses the recurring gap between reported profit and available cash by connecting finance, sales, procurement, operations and treasury decisions to measurable working capital outcomes.

Participants learn to calculate and interpret DSO, DIO, DPO, current ratio, quick ratio and cash conversion cycle measures. They build direct and indirect cash forecasts, including a 13-week rolling forecast, and test scenarios for delayed collections, demand changes, supplier pressure and funding constraints. The course covers receivables policy, collections, inventory control, supplier terms, payment scheduling, liquidity facilities, cash controls, covenant monitoring and management reporting. Participants learn to identify cash release opportunities while weighing service, margin, supplier dependency and customer relationships.

Teaching combines focused instructor briefings with finance cases, calculation work, group discussions, forecasting simulations and structured review of realistic management decisions. Participants work with cash flow data, receivables ageing reports, inventory information and supplier payment terms similar to those used in corporate finance teams. They leave with a practical cash management action pack containing forecast, analysis, control and reporting templates that can be adapted for their own organisation.

The course suits finance and accounting professionals who contribute to budgeting, treasury, credit control, procurement, operations finance or business performance reporting. It is particularly useful for teams seeking better short-term cash visibility, tighter working capital discipline and clearer accountability for cash improvement actions.

What you will be able to do

  • Calculate DSO, DIO, DPO, current ratio, quick ratio and cash conversion cycle measures
  • Build a 13-week rolling cash forecast from operational and financial data
  • Diagnose receivables, inventory and payables drivers affecting working capital performance
  • Design credit, collections and payment practices that improve cash timing
  • Assess liquidity gaps, funding options and debt covenant headroom
  • Model base, downside and upside cash flow scenarios using documented assumptions
  • Establish cash controls, forecasting governance and escalation procedures
  • Present working capital analysis and cash improvement actions to management

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Produce credible short-term cash forecasts for management review
  • Identify the operational causes behind deteriorating working capital metrics
  • Challenge collection, inventory and supplier payment decisions using financial evidence
  • Communicate liquidity risks and funding requirements with greater confidence
  • Create an actionable cash improvement plan for a business unit

For your organisation

  • Earlier visibility of cash shortfalls and funding requirements
  • Reduced cash tied up in overdue receivables and excess inventory
  • Improved payment timing without unnecessary supplier relationship damage
  • More reliable forecasts for treasury, banking and management decisions
  • Clearer ownership and reporting of working capital improvement actions

Course modules

10 modules over 5 days

Participants can explain how operating decisions, balance sheet accounts and timing differences affect available cash.

  • Operating cash flow distinguished from profit, EBITDA and free cash flow
  • Cash conversion cycle links receivables, inventory, payables and sales timing
  • Working capital balance sheet accounts mapped to cash movement drivers
  • Direct and indirect cash flow statements reconciled to accounting records
  • IAS 7 classifications for operating, investing and financing cash flows
  • Seasonality, growth and inflation effects identified in cash requirements

Participants can calculate core working capital measures and identify the drivers behind performance changes.

  • Days sales outstanding calculated using average receivables and credit sales
  • Days inventory outstanding measured against cost of goods sold
  • Days payable outstanding assessed against purchases and supplier terms
  • Cash conversion cycle benchmarked using comparable operating assumptions
  • Working capital ratio and quick ratio interpreted with limitations
  • Driver trees separate volume, price, timing and policy effects

Participants can improve the timing and quality of customer cash collections through disciplined credit management.

  • Credit policy parameters set for limits, terms, deposits and guarantees
  • Customer credit assessment combines financial ratios, bureau data and trade references
  • Aging schedules prioritise collection actions by value, delinquency and dispute status
  • Collections escalation follows reminder, call, stop-supply and legal stages
  • Dispute management assigns owners, root causes and resolution deadlines
  • DSO improvement quantified without damaging strategically important customer relationships

Participants can assess inventory policies and identify stock reductions that release cash without unacceptable service risk.

  • ABC analysis classifies inventory by annual consumption value and control intensity
  • EOQ balances ordering costs, holding costs and demand volume
  • Reorder points combine lead time, demand rate and safety stock
  • Safety stock settings reflect demand variability, service level and lead-time uncertainty
  • Slow-moving and obsolete stock identified through ageing and turnover analysis
  • Sales and operations planning aligns demand forecasts, supply capacity and cash

Participants can manage supplier payments to protect liquidity while maintaining appropriate commercial relationships.

  • Supplier payment terms analysed against discounts, liquidity and relationship value
  • Three-way matching prevents payment errors across purchase orders, receipts and invoices
  • Payment runs scheduled by due date, priority, discount and cash availability
  • Early-payment discount annualised to compare financing cost alternatives
  • Supplier segmentation identifies critical vendors, dependency and negotiation priorities
  • Procure-to-pay controls separate vendor setup, approval and payment authority

Participants can create, maintain and challenge short-term cash forecasts using operational assumptions and variance analysis.

  • 13-week rolling cash forecast built from receipts, payroll and supplier data
  • Direct forecasting models weekly collections, disbursements and opening bank balances
  • Indirect forecasts reconcile projected profit, working capital movements and noncash items
  • Forecast assumptions documented with owners, sources, timing and confidence ranges
  • Scenario analysis tests base, downside and upside liquidity outcomes
  • Forecast accuracy tracked through variance analysis and root-cause review

Participants can assess liquidity gaps and select appropriate short-term funding responses.

  • Minimum cash balance set against volatility, covenant headroom and payment commitments
  • Liquidity gaps matched to overdrafts, revolvers, factoring and term borrowing
  • Receivables financing assessed for cost, recourse, control and customer impact
  • Supply chain finance evaluated for accounting treatment and supplier consequences
  • Debt covenant calculations monitored using forecast EBITDA, leverage and interest cover
  • Bank relationship packs present forecast, facilities, risks and funding requests

Participants can establish control points and escalation processes that protect cash and support reliable reporting.

  • Cash positioning consolidates bank balances, restricted cash and near-term obligations
  • Bank reconciliation controls detect timing differences, errors and unauthorised transactions
  • Segregation of duties protects payment initiation, approval and release stages
  • Fraud red flags include changed bank details, urgent payments and duplicates
  • Foreign currency exposures linked to settlement dates and forecast cash flows
  • Liquidity contingency plans define triggers, actions, owners and communications

Participants can present cash performance, risks and improvement priorities in decision-focused management reports.

  • Working capital dashboard combines DSO, DIO, DPO, CCC and forecast variance
  • Waterfall analysis explains cash movement between reporting periods and business drivers
  • Working capital initiatives ranked by cash impact, effort, risk and ownership
  • Trade-offs assessed between service levels, margin, supplier resilience and liquidity
  • Management commentary distinguishes temporary movements from structural cash issues
  • Board reporting states decisions required, funding implications and action deadlines

Participants can translate working capital analysis into accountable actions, milestones and benefits tracking.

  • Cash improvement targets translated into accountable departmental action plans
  • RACI matrices assign ownership for forecasting, collections, inventory and payments
  • Thirty-sixty-ninety-day milestones sequence policy changes, systems fixes and reviews
  • Benefits tracking compares realised cash release with approved initiative baselines
  • Weekly cash meetings use exceptions, decisions and follow-up actions
  • Personal application plans specify first actions, stakeholders and evidence measures

Exercises and examples are adapted to each cohort's sectors and roles.

What you take back to work

  1. 13-week rolling cash forecast template
  2. Working capital KPI dashboard
  3. Receivables ageing and collections priority model
  4. Inventory cash release analysis template
  5. Liquidity contingency plan checklist
  6. Ninety-day cash improvement action plan

Who should attend

  • Finance Managers — need clearer control of liquidity, forecasts and working capital decisions
  • Financial Analysts — translate operating data into cash forecasts and management insights
  • Management Accountants — connect budgets, performance reporting and cash movement
  • Treasury Analysts — monitor liquidity positions, facilities and short-term funding needs
  • Credit Controllers — improve collection priorities, dispute resolution and DSO performance
  • Procurement and Operations Managers — understand how stock and supplier decisions affect cash

Skills and tools covered

Cash flow forecastingWorking capital analysisReceivables managementInventory cash controlLiquidity planningCash reporting

Tools and standards

IAS 7 Statement of Cash Flows, Cash Conversion Cycle, 13-week Rolling Cash Forecast, RACI Matrix

How the course runs

Training methodology

The course uses short instructor briefings to establish methods, followed by calculations, case work, group analysis and cash forecasting simulations. Participants interpret receivables ageing, inventory, supplier and bank data to identify cash drivers and propose actions. Facilitated discussions examine trade-offs between liquidity, service levels, margin and commercial relationships. Each participant develops an application plan using their own role, reporting cycle and priority cash issues as reference points.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should understand basic financial statements, including the balance sheet, income statement and cash flow statement. Experience with budgets, management accounts, receivables, payables, inventory, treasury or operational finance is helpful. Participants should be comfortable using percentages, ratios and spreadsheet-based calculations. The course assumes no prior treasury qualification, advanced financial modelling expertise or knowledge of specialised cash management systems. It is not designed as an introduction to bookkeeping or double-entry accounting.

A typical training day

08:30 – 10:30First session
10:30 – 10:45Refreshment break
10:45 – 12:30Second session
12:30 – 13:30Lunch and networking
13:30 – 15:00Third session
15:00 – 15:15Refreshment break
15:15 – 16:30Workshop and daily review

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in East Africa Time, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

  • Instruction by a practitioner facilitator
  • Full course workbook and materials
  • Exercise files, templates and case studies
  • Refreshments and lunch on classroom deliveries
  • Certificate of completion
  • Post-course application plan

Frequently asked questions

Participants should understand basic financial statements and be comfortable with ratios and spreadsheet calculations. Prior treasury training or advanced financial modelling experience is not required.

Participants should bring a laptop if attending in person, along with a calculator if preferred. They may also bring non-confidential examples of their cash reports, forecast format or working capital challenges.

The course is designed for finance managers, analysts, management accountants, treasury staff, credit controllers and operational managers with cash responsibilities. It suits professionals who already work with financial information and need stronger cash management methods.

General financial management courses address wider areas such as budgeting, investment appraisal, financial strategy and performance management. This course concentrates on short-term liquidity, working capital drivers, cash forecasts, controls and funding decisions.

Participants can use the forecast structure, KPI dashboard, collections priorities and action plan immediately after the course. The methods apply to corporate, public sector, nonprofit, project and trading environments where payment timing matters.

Each training day runs from 08:30 to 16:30 and provides about 6.5 contact hours. The five days progress from cash foundations and working capital analysis to forecasting, funding, controls, reporting and implementation planning.

Questions about this course?

Ask about dates, fees, group bookings or running it for your team. Our training team replies by email.

Ask on WhatsApp info@skillsetdevelopment.com

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